Dakota Johnson has said that acting on the set of Madame Web, with a high volume of CGI effects, was “absolutely psychotic”.
The film is marketed as the fourth instalment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, and in November, the first trailer for the film was released. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the movie also stars The White Lotus’ Sydney Sweeney, as well as Emma Roberts and Adam Scott. It is released in cinemas on February 14.
In a new interview with EW, Johnson, who shot to fame as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades film series, opened up about the technical difficulties of performing in such an effects-heavy production.
“I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen, and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion. That to me was absolutely psychotic,” she said.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an okay job!’ But I trusted [director SJ Clarkson]. She works so hard, and she has not taken her eyes off this movie since we started.”
Directed by Clarkson and written by Jessica Jones writer Claire Parker, the movie centres around Cassandra Webb, portrayed by Johnson, a paramedic working in New York City. When she notices her ability to see into the future, she enlists the help of a group of young women, one of whom is Julia Carpenter, played by Sweeney, who later becomes Spider Woman in the famous comics.
In the same interview, Johnson spoke about her doubts about accepting the role. “I got sent this script, and I was like, ‘I don’t know about me being a superhero,’” she said. “I was sort of mystified by her powers. I felt like, ‘Oh, I really would love to see that superhero. I would love to see a young woman whose superpower is her mind.’”
When Sweeney was interviewed in 2022 about working with Johnson, the Euphoria actor said, “I was a little nervous. I have to say – I snuck into Fifty Shades of Grey in high school. My parents didn’t let me watch it and I watched it. So I’m a huge fan of her. She’s so hot.”